Sudan protest organizers reject UN mediation offer

Volker Perthes, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan KHARTOUM, Jan 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — One of the major organizers of Sudan’s anti-coup protests, the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, refused an offer from the UN to mediate talks with the military. The UN has hoped to help broker a deal following a military…

South Africa charges Parliament fire suspect with terrorism

Zandile Christmas Mafe in court in Cape Town on 11 January. Photograph: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images CAPE TOWN, Jan 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prosecutors in South Africa charged the man accused of starting the fire that gutted parts of South Africa’s parliament building with terrorism on Tuesday. Zandile M. was already facing five charges,…

Covid-19: No more isolation for asymptomatic people with booster doses in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 12 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Argentine Health Authorities have decided that from now on, people who have taken three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and remain asymptomatic following close contact with a positive case of the disease shall no longer be required to isolate themselves. The officials gathered under…

Chile: Boric wants pardon for all those prosecuted for 2019 Social Outbreak

SANTIAGO, Jan 12 (NNN-MEERCOPRESS) — Chile’s President-elect Gabriel Boric has asked his country’s Parliament to approve a general pardon for all those still detained or facing criminal charges for their involvement in the Social Outbreak of 2019. Boric was hopeful the Chilean Congress will reach a decision on the matter…

Trinidad and Tobago sprinter Lendore dies following car crash in US

HOUSTON (Texas, US), Jan 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Trinidad and Tobago’ sprinter Deon Lendore has died in the United States at the age of 29 following a car accident in Texas, US. U.S. media reports said the three-times Olympian, who anchored his country to the 4x400m bronze medal at the 2012…

Iran nuclear talks proceeding too slowly, says France

 France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian PARIS, Jan 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — International negotiations on Iran’s nuclear activities are proceeding so slowly that they are unlikely to lead to any agreement “within a realistic timeframe,” France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. The discussions taking place in Vienna “are under way…

Covid-19: Mexican president doing well despite second bout

  MEXICO CITY, Jan 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he was doing well despite catching Covid-19 for a second time, reassuring the country that Omicron was a less dangerous variant. “I’m feeling pretty good,” Lopez Obrador, 68, said in a video message played during a news…

UN releases US$1.9 bln to aid 10.9 mln people in Sudan

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 12 (NNN-Xinhua) — The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released on Tuesday a US$1.9-billion Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan for 2022. More than US$800 million will go to life-saving activities for some of the 10.9 million vulnerable people targeted out of the 14.3 million…

At least 10 dead due to heavy rains in SE Brazil

Residents remove damaged belongings and spoiled food outside their home after flooding in Raposos, Minas Gerais state, Brazil  RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 12 (NNN-Xinhua) — At least 10 people were killed in the past 24 hours after heavy rains in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, and more than…

Covid-19: Argentina registers record number of daily cases

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 12 (NNN-Xinhua) — Argentina registered 134,439 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, a new record of daily infections, bringing the national tally to 6,533,635, the Ministry of Health reported. The figure exceeded the previous record set on Friday, when 110,533 cases were registered in a single…